Dalbeattie Community Initiative Chairman Ian McMickan, left, said: “The article in last week’s Galloway News in connection with a council proposal to create a community hub in Dalbeattie should not be allowed to go unnoticed.

“The article mentioned words, ascribed to a council for funding application, such as ‘deprived’ and being ‘fragmented and lacks social cohesion as a community’. It further says Dalbeattie has ‘no clear identity or brand’.

“To say Dalbeattie lacks social cohesion as a community is simply wrong.”

In a letter to the News he points to a long list of social and community projects in the town – mainly down to volunteers.

These include the likes of the first responders, the Blair Youth Centre, scout groups, sea cadets, thriving allotments, a community run museum and much more.

Many have also made their views known on Facebook.

One, Sarah McNeill Davies, posted: “Dalbeattie is far from deprived, there are lots of beautiful parts to the town which is set in an area of outstanding beauty in my opinion.”

And Ann Atwell noted that there are “more than 60 local groups, run mostly by volunteers.”